| Energy Sustainability -Toward The Compassionate Global Society - The Schools Going Solar program, introduced and advanced by the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, Washington, DC and enthusiastically received by an increasing number of schools in the U.S. and abroad, deals with two major challenges facing the global community and Golden Rule Stewardship in the post-Darwin era: (1) energy/societal sustainability, and (2) an effective mechanism (energy independence) to assist in the reduction/decentralization of population centers. While attributing all of life processes on Earth to the role played by the sun would preemptively ignore the important case made for cosmic genealogy concerning the origin of genetic materials requisite for life, school children are among the first to appreciate that each of us, not unlike almost every form of life, is sustained by the sun, our star within our observable universe. This recognition confers especial significance to the 1996 breakthrough in plastic battery technology (The Johns Hopkins University) and its potential when employed in conjunction with already widely used photovoltaic solar cell technology. Constructed ideally of plastic made from industrial hemp (a plant sustained by the sun), the plastic battery can store electricity produced (photovoltaically) directly from the sun, thus achieving at once an environmentally benign and long-sought sustainable source of energy. The plastic battery and its further development aimed at large-unit utility introduces to the global community a sustainable resource with unifying prospect for the global community. At present a plastic battery for small-unit usage is available from UltraLife Batteries. Inc. As a unifying dimension of sustainability, plastic battery technology provides demonstrative insight into the interconnectedness of life and life processes - a perspective fundamentally related to the Positive Generational Constant (Human Empathy and Compassion) and basics of the Compassionate Global Society: (a) a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen, (b) universal health care, publicly supported, (c) education for all based upon individual capability, (d) creative/productive employment for every citizen, (e) financial security upon completion of work career. The Schools Going Solar program also promotes varied and sundry options for passive solar applications within the school environment. For more information, contact Bob Gibson, Utility PhotoVoltaic Group, 1800 M Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036-5802 (202) 857-0898. "The Golden Rule is a natural consequence of the recognition of the unity of being" (Esme Wynne-Tyson, The Philosophy of Compassion, Centaur Press, 1970). Tracing Human Cosmic Genealogy (THCG) The DEMOCRATHON Process |
| last edited 10/21/02 |